Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Notes: Drummond, Thompson, Lue, Post-LeBron Era

February 9th, 2020 at 12:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Andre Drummond thought he was being pranked when he heard about the trade to the Cavaliers, but now he’s excited for the opportunity, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Drummond went through his first practice with the team yesterday and is expected to make his debut tonight.

“I was truly excited to be somewhere I’m wanted, really happy to start a new chapter here,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to being with the guys. I’m just looking forward to playing in a Cleveland Cavalier jersey. Everything happens for a reason. I look at it as a bright note for me, for my family to start somewhere new and be with a great group of guys.”

Drummond quickly acclimated himself to his new surroundings, Fedor states. His new teammates were welcoming, including Tristan Thompson, who will move to the bench as Drummond becomes the starting center.

“I’m not taking anybody’s job, I’m just here to play,” Drummond said. “I didn’t come here expecting anything. I’m just here to do my job, whatever they need me to do, I’ll get it done.”

There’s more from Cleveland:

The chance to add Drummond didn’t arise until Wednesday night, Fedor relays in a separate story. Cavs general manager Koby Altman told his staff to think about it overnight, and the consensus was that the price — the expiring contracts of John Henson and Brandon Knight plus a future second-round pick — was too good to refuse. “I’m sure Detroit has a plan in place in terms of what they want to do either with their cap space or with their future trajectory as a franchise, but our job is to make sure we’re exploring every opportunity out there and making sure we’re doing what’s best for our franchise,” Altman said. “Adding a talent of this magnitude is something that we couldn’t pass up and he also fits our timeline in terms of his age — he’s 26 years old — so he fits with some of our younger guys.”
As Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue prepares to return to Cleveland tonight, he tells Joe Vardon of The Athletic that he wishes he could still be coaching the Cavaliers. “What I tried to build there, I think the culture I tried to set … I thought we could do it together,” Lue said. “Koby being a young GM, me being a young coach, having young players. I won a championship there, so you have a chance and an opportunity to do something different, and you should have that leeway to be able to go through a couple challenging years. To win a championship and go to the (NBA) Finals should buy you a little time, you would think.”
Jason Lloyd of The Athletic examines why the Cavs have struggled so much after losing LeBron James for a second time, when they were believed to be in a better position than in 2010.

Drummond Likely To Opt In; Cavs Won’t Mind

February 7th, 2020 at 6:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Andre Drummond is likely to opt in for next season and the Cavaliers won’t mind if he remains off the free agent market, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Drummond, who was dealt by the Pistons for the expiring contracts of Brandon Knight and John Henson and a second-round pick, was expected to leave $28.75MM on the table and test a weak free agent market. However, the possibility of Drummond opting in convinced Detroit to trade him. Sam Amico of SI.com also reported earlier today that Drummond is planning to opt in (Twitter link).

Cleveland was aware that Drummond might do so but made the deal with the intention of keeping the league’s premier rebounder around beyond this season.

“I think in terms of his age and what he brings to our team, absolutely we consider him a potential long-term play,” Cavaliers GM Koby Altman said. “Obviously, he has a player option that if he picks up, we think we’re in good shape to assume, in terms of our cap space. There’s no better money spent than Andre Drummond if he picks up his option, so with the player option or not, we have flexibility and optionality moving forward.”

We have more on Cleveland’s acquisition of Drummond:

The Cavs have had their eyes on Drummond for awhile after seeing him in the division four times a season, ESPN’s Eric Woodyard relays. Cleveland believes he’ll fit in well with its young core. “Adding a talent of this magnitude is something that we couldn’t pass up, and he also fits our timeline in terms of his age,” Altman said. “He’s 26 years old, so I think he fits with some of our younger guys and our timeline, so when the opportunity arose, we jumped on it, and here we are.”
Drummond is represented by Jeff Schwartz, the agent who represents power forward Kevin Love, and that’s not necessarily a good thing, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic writes. Love’s unhappiness with the organization is well documented, which means Drummond already knows plenty about Love’s grievances, Lloyd points out.
The Cavaliers could have ensured themselves approximately $40MM in cap space this summer by not making this deal but there was no one else in the market worth spending their money on, Lloyd notes in the same piece. They might use same strategy they did with Love and offer to overpay him with a long-term contract in an effort to convince Drummond to stay long term, Lloyd adds.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots After Trade Deadline

February 7th, 2020 at 4:28pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2020 NBA trade deadline has come and gone, so teams that had been holding open roster spots in case they needed them before a last-minute deal can now fill those openings, if they so choose. The Nets did exactly that today — after holding their 15th roster spot open through the deadline, they signed Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to a multiyear contract today to fill it.

While Brooklyn no longer has an open roster spot, a number of teams around the league still do. Here’s a quick breakdown of which clubs fit that bill and what their roster situations are, with their roster openings noted in parentheses:

Golden State Warriors (3): The Warriors initially had six roster openings, but signed Juan Toscano-Anderson and promoted Ky Bowman and Marquese Chriss to fill three of them. Zach Norvell and Jeremy Pargo are expected to sign 10-day deals, allowing Golden State to get to the league-mandated minimum of 14. The Dubs will probably keep their 15th slot open as they attempt to stay below the tax line.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2): Alfonzo McKinnie agreed to a long-term contract with the Cavaliers and will fill one of their two open spots once his deal becomes official. However, the team could re-open that second slot this weekend when Marques Bolden‘s 10-day contract expires.
Houston Rockets (2): The Rockets figure to keep a close eye on the buyout market as they look to reinforce their depth. They’ll have up to two weeks to get back to at least 14 players.
Atlanta Hawks (1): The Hawks opened a roster spot by trading Jabari Parker and Alex Len to Sacramento for Dewayne Dedmon. They’re not anywhere near the tax, so I’d expect them to fill that opening soon with a young player, either on a 10-day deal or a rest-of-season contract.
Los Angeles Clippers (1): The Clippers opened up one roster spot by trading Derrick Walton. They’re expected to open up a second by waiving Isaiah Thomas, a move that isn’t yet official. Like Houston, the Clips figure to scour the buyout market in an effort to fill its roster. Darren Collison is also an option if he decides to make a comeback.
Oklahoma City Thunder (1): The Thunder stood pat at the deadline and seem unlikely to fill that final roster spot anytime soon, since a 15th man would increase their projected tax bill.
Portland Trail Blazers (1): The same goes for the Trail Blazers, who remain in the tax even after moving Skal Labissiere for nothing at the deadline.
Denver Nuggets / Memphis Grizzlies / Orlando Magic (0): The Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Magic don’t currently have roster openings, but likely will soon. Denver is expected to waive Gerald Green, Memphis reportedly doesn’t intend to keep Dion Waiters, and Gary Clark‘s 10-day contract with Orlando will expire tonight.

Note: These roster counts are up to date as of the time of publication. This list is just a snapshot and won’t be updated to reflect subsequent moves, but our roster counts page will be.

Pistons Trade Andre Drummond To Cavaliers

February 6th, 2020 at 9:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

9:21pm: It’s a done deal, with the Cavaliers and Pistons both issuing press releases to confirm the trade. Detroit announced in a separate release that, as expected, Frazier has been waived to make room on the roster for the incoming players.

1:19pm: The Cavaliers are finalizing a trade with the Pistons that will see them acquire center Andre Drummond, a league source tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer (via Twitter), Detroit will receive Brandon Knight and John Henson, both of whom are on expiring contracts. Cleveland will also send the Pistons a second-round pick, per O’Connor.

The pick will be the lesser of Cleveland’s 2023 own pick or the 2023 second-rounder Golden State owes the Cavaliers, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com tweets.

Drummond, the league’s premier rebounder, holds a $28.75MM option on his contract for next season and he’s expected to opt out and test a weak free agent market. The Pistons reportedly were prepared to retain Drummond after talks with the Hawks and Knicks fell through but ultimately decided to move on and go into rebuild mode. Detroit was looking for a first-round pick for Drummond but settled on the second-rounder, along with those expiring contracts.

The modest haul for Drummond was surprising but Detroit’s front office wanted to avoid the possibility of Drummond opting in, O’Connor adds in another tweet. It also gives Cleveland the opportunity to see how Drummond meshes with the young backcourt of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland.

The Pistons will now have approximately $35MM in cap space this summer, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Cleveland will be close to the cap if Drummond opts in or re-signs with the starting salary in the $29-$30MM range, Marks adds.

Knight is making approximately $15.64MM and Henson has a $9.73MM contract, so the Pistons will shave some money off this year’s cap. They were perilously close to the luxury tax line prior to the proposed deal. Detroit was less than $4,000 under the tax line but moves to $1.7MM under the threshold via this trade, according to Marks (Twitter link).

Drummond has a $857K trade bonus that will be applied to his $27.1MM cap hit for this season, Marks relays in another tweet. Drummond, who has spent his whole career with Pistons since being chosen in the 2012 lottery, is averaging 17.8 PPG and an NBA-best 15.8 RPG this season.

The Pistons will have to open up a roster spot before making the trade official since it is at the 15-man limit. It’s likely that Tim Frazier, who has served as the No. 3 point guard behind Derrick Rose and Reggie Jackson, will be waived unless Detroit makes another trade, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweets.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Buyout Rumors: Ellington, Jackson, Jazz

February 6th, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Veterans on the trading block that teams were unable to move by Thursday’s deadline could still wind up with other teams. Below are updates on some of those players:

The Knicks will look into buying out shooting guard Wayne Ellington, Ian Begley of SNY-TV tweets. Ellington signed a two-year, $16MM contract with New York last summer but the second year is only guaranteed for $1MM. Ellington, 32, has appeared in just 24 games this season, averaging 4.0 PPG in 14.1 MPG. He’s a 37.7% career shooter from beyond the arc.
A buyout of point guard Reggie Jackson is an option for the Pistons but is termed “premature” for the time being, Yahoo Sports’ Vince Goodwill tweets. Jackson, who is making over $18MM in the final year of his deal, has missed a good chunk of this season with a back ailment. He is close friends with Andre Drummond, who is headed to Cleveland.
The Jazz will be one of the contenders scouring the buyout market both domestically and internationally, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Utah explored several deals the past two days but couldn’t find one that made sense, Jones adds.
The Cavaliers are apparently uninterested in buying out center Tristan Thompson. Get the details here.

Cavs Don’t Plan On Buying Out Tristan Thompson

February 6th, 2020 at 3:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers do not plan to buy out center Tristan Thompson despite agreeing to a trade for Pistons center Andre Drummond, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets.

Thompson, who is making approximately $18.5MM this season, will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Thompson was on the trading block, with Cleveland reportedly seeking a first-round pick for the 28-year-old. Thompson’s camp was hoping he would be dealt and now finds himself in a tricky situation the last two months of the season with the addition of Drummond.

Clients of Klutch Sports – which represents Thompson – typically don’t negotiate buyouts, but he and the people around him “definitely wanted him out of Cleveland,” Joe Vardon of The Athletic tweets. It’s unclear whether that desire has waned now that he wouldn’t get to take his Bird rights with him to a new destination.

Prior to adding Drummond, the Cavs were open to re-signing Thompson this summer, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The front office had internal discussions about a contract extension but Thompson’s demands were too high. The team’s brass also wanted to keep its options open for the offseason. A sign-and-trade involving Thompson this summer is a possibility, Fedor adds.

Thompson is averaging 11.9 PPG and 10.4 RPG in 31.0 MPG this season.

Rockets Inquire About Thompson, Wood

February 6th, 2020 at 12:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets explored the possibility of acquiring Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson but couldn’t come up with a suitable trade package to match up salaries, Chris B. Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.

Houston is seeking another rotation player, regardless of position, and has had talks with the Pistons regarding young big Christian Wood, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links).

The Rockets dealt away their top frontcourt player, Clint Capela, in a complex four-way trade that sent forward Robert Covington to Houston.

They have gone with smaller lineups in recent games but their interest in Thompson and Wood suggests they are looking to play a more conventional style if they can land another power forward or center. Thompson has an expiring $18.5MM contract and Wood will also be an unrestricted free agent after the season. He has blossomed this season in Detroit after being plucked off waivers last summer.

Eastern Conference Notes: Thompson, Sixers, Horford, Knicks

February 6th, 2020 at 11:51am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Love doesn’t want to see long-time teammate Tristan Thompson get traded, but he understands it might be the best move for both him and the organization, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavaliers are reportedly seeking a first-round pick in return for Thompson, who will be a free agent this summer. If Cleveland can’t find an acceptable deal, management still has interest in re-signing the 28-year-old center or possibly working out a sign-and-trade.

“That’s my brother, man,” Love said. “I would always go to war with him. I would run through a wall for him. He’s the best. Just the type of guy he is, he’s a lifelong friend of mine, so it would be tough to see him go. I would like to have him around selfishly, but if there’s a better situation out there for him, going to make him happier, have a chance to win a championship, then so be it. I only know Tristan Thompson as a Cavalier and I like it that way.”

There’s more from the Eastern Conference as the trade deadline draws nearer:

Trey Burke, Kyle O’Quinn and Jonah Bolden were all absent from the Sixers‘ shootaround this morning, tweets Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Philadelphia has to trim two players from its roster by 3pm Eastern to complete a trade that will bring Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III from the Warriors in exchange for three second-round draft picks.
Al Horford hinted at trouble in the Sixers‘ locker room in comments after Wednesday’s practice, relays Jon Johnson of KYW Radio (Twitter link). “There’s some stuff going on in our locker room,” Horford said, “and we’ll keep that internal.”
A pair of Knicks youngsters have signed with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports for representation. Ian Begley of SNY.tv reports (via Twitter) that Mitchell Robinson is one of Paul’s newest clients, while Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter) says Allonzo Trier has joined Klutch Sports too.

Kevin Love Doesn't Expect To Be Moved

February 5th, 2020 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Few NBA players have been mentioned more frequently in trade rumors this season than Kevin Love. However, with the Cavaliers and potential trade partners not seeing eye-to-eye on Love’s value, there appears to be no movement on a potential deal, with just over 24 hours left before Thursday’s deadline. For his part, Love sounds fully prepared to remain in Cleveland through the deadline.

“I don’t think anything is going to happen,” the Cavaliers’ power forward said, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “I really don’t, but we’ll see.”

As Fedor explains, sources have insisted for weeks that a Love trade is unlikely because the Cavaliers are unwilling to treat a deal as a salary dump. They view Love as a valuable trade chip and would balk at attaching a draft pick to him, while possible suitors believe they’d be doing Cleveland a favor by taking on the 31-year-old’s pricey long-term contract. That gap seems unlikely to be bridged by Thursday afternoon.

Trade Rumors: Holiday, Clippers, Thompson, Celtics

February 5th, 2020 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

A report last week suggested that Jrue Holiday is happy with the Pelicans, who won’t move him unless they’re blown away by an offer. That’s still the case, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that New Orleans remains content to hang onto Holiday through Thursday’s trade deadline.

Teams like the Nuggets and Heat have been linked to Holiday, and there are plenty of other contenders who would surely have interest in the former All-Star guard if New Orleans were shopping him. However, according to Wojnarowski, the kind of “overwhelming offer” it would take to change the Pelicans’ mind hasn’t materialized.

Here are a few more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA:

The Clippers don’t currently have any traction on any deals involving Maurice Harkless, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, who points to Marcus Morris (Knicks), Thaddeus Young (Bulls), and Andre Iguodala (Grizzlies) as some of the targets the team has considered.
The Cavaliers don’t want to trade Tristan Thompson “just to move him,” and continue to seek a first-round pick for the big man, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. According to Fedor – in a separate article – Cleveland still has interest in re-signing Thompson this summer if he stays put, but would be hesitant to award him another contract in the range of his current one (five years, $82MM).
According to David Aldridge of The Athletic (Twitter link), sources maintain that the Wizards‘ interest in acquiring Thompson from the Cavaliers isn’t particularly strong. As Aldridge observes, re-signing both Thompson and Davis Bertans in the offseason might be tricky for a team with two max players in its backcourt.
The Celtics still aren’t expected to do anything major at the deadline, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald, who says a move to add a veteran who can provide offense off the bench is more likely than a deal to upgrade the center position.